Yesterday, Gartner released a study detailing failure rates of PCs. The study had mixed news. The good news seems to be that annual failure rates among desktops and notebooks have declined 25% over the last two years. Unfortunately–even with this improvement–notebook annual failure rates still range from 15-20%.

Two of the top sources of failure for notebooks and desktop computers are motherboards and hard drives. That is somewhat of a change for notebooks, considering that screen breakage used to be the single-largest source of failure. Screen breakage has declined due to improvements in design made to better protect the screen.

Gartner says desktops purchased in 2005-2006 experienced a 5% annual failure rate and are expected to experience a projected 12% failure rate in year four of life. Notebooks purchased in 2005-2006 experienced a 15% failure rate in year one and are projected to experience a failure rate of 22% in year four of life.

BRIAN'S OPINION
Looking at annual failure rates for notebooks has to give you some pause. A 15% failure rate in year one is quite shocking. I completely understand that because laptops are mobile there is a greater chance for failure rates than desktops. I just don't think the percentage should be in the double digits.

Meanwhile, desktops seem to have what I would believe to be reasonable failure rates even up to year four of life. That's not to say that as a consumer I wouldn't love to see improvement. I don't believe that bringing annual failure rates below 10% in year four would be impossible for desktop manufacturers.

Laptops still have some work to do. Now, you have to give kudos to laptop manufacturers for the progress they have made in annual failure rates. After all, systems purchased in 2003-2004 had a 28% failure rate in year one and 28% failure rate in year four. No doubt, a great deal of work went into improving laptop reliability; it's just that improvements in reliability still need to continue.

USER COMMENTS 5 comment(s)

Solid state(10:17am EST Wed Jun 28 2006)When solid state drives around 30GB become cheap, laptops will do much better. Hard drives and screen hinges are the weak points of laptop design. - by Old Timer

I wonder how these failure rates compare to other items like TVs, cellphones, iPods and even automobiles? - by JRink

User error(10:39am EST Wed Jun 28 2006)Most users are not computer literate and claim a laptop or PC has failed so they return it, when in reality, they just don't have patience to know how to use it. - by AiNoKeA

Casual Use(11:56am EST Wed Jun 28 2006) The commonness and proliferation of laptops in the general populace and their reduced price has caused them to be treated more casually while in transit. The applications that they are being used for have expanded into rougher environments and less careful users. In some organizations where they are issued to employees, the attitude is,”if I tear it up, I will get a new one”. In the past five to eight years, laptops have become more rugged and reliable road warriors, but usage applications and treatment have kept pace with that improvement. After considerable observation in airports, I think people can be somewhat catagorized by the brand, model,or type of laptop or portable device they are carrying. As for me, my Toughbook CF-29 has not failed yet. - by RCAman

Commodities(12:16pm EST Wed Jun 28 2006)I think that when PCs became commodities this was an inevitable consequence.

Sure it's nice to be able to buy a 250GB hard disk for $50. But in that context should I be surprised if it fails within a year?

Cutting corners and costs to be competetive sure helps sell cheap notbooks and desktops, but it also has a flip side. Poor quality, hence poor reliability.

Jrink, have a look at the failure rates of comsumer DVD players and recorders. Based on a quick sampling of online customer reviews there are a lot of product failures in the first year.

Of course the relentless drive to reduce prices has left us with $35 DVD players and $99 DVD recorders, so perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that they have a high failure rate.

When PCs became commodity goods, they started to follow the same pattern as those DVD players. - by HighlandCynic